


Home

by kaeh96



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/F, Femslash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 10:37:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4016551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaeh96/pseuds/kaeh96
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: Jennifer Jareau is in the Marine Corps, and Emily Prentiss is a rookie agent with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Something draws the two together, and they beginning exchanging letters as JJ is deployed overseas. Eventual jemily. Rated M for dark and mature themes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

March 14th, 2003, Quantico, Virginia

Jennifer Jareau awoke in her bed at the Quantico Marine Corps Base, itching to get out of bed and to training.  
‘Four more days. That’s all you have to get through.’  
She stretched and slid her legs over the edge of the squeaky bed she’d come to know so well over the past year. The short walk across the hardwood floor to her small closet was familiar and comforting, and she enjoyed the coziness and warmth of her small space. She slipped her USMC t-shirt and navy shorts off her petite body and changed into her training uniform-a grey shirt that read “Quantico” and navy athletic pants. As she glanced at her watch she heard her apartment-mates stepping into the common areas of their temporary home. They were due to report to the large gymnasium at the FBI Academy/Marine training center in just under an hour. All their training for the past month had been nit-picking and conditioning so that the skills they’d learned became muscle memory-skills that would save their lives in the near future.  
JJ padded out of her room and into the bright living room, the sunrise coming in through their window and the light from the kitchen causing her to squint slightly.  
“Morning Jareau!” Tucker Stevens, a 6’3” blond, green-eyed man with muscles bigger than JJ’s face called to her.  
“Hey Stevens. How’d everyone sleep?”  
The other man and woman she lived with-Eric Clarke and Molly Richards-looked up at her, the brunette woman responding first,  
“Pretty well, you?”  
JJ shrugged,  
“Okay I guess. I’m getting kind of antsy, I gotta admit.”  
Clarke chuckled,  
“I think that’ll fade pretty quickly.”  
She gave him a smirk and took her plate of breakfast from Molly.  
Stevens glanced at each of them as they dug into their food,  
“So what hell do y’all think Evans will put us through today?”  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Emily Prentiss walked into the bullpen of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit with all the confidence she’d managed to scrape up over the last few months.  
“Hey Prentiss, ready for some ass-whooping?” Her friend and teammate Derek Morgan greeted her with his usual humor and charming smile. She smirked as she reached her desk,  
“Yeah yeah, you’re all talk but let’s see some action.”  
Morgan had been giving her hand to hand combat training as part of her field certification, and he was always teasing her despite her obvious progress and inevitable success.  
“Don’t encourage him, Prentiss.” David Rossi gave her a half-smile as he approached them. Prentiss had learned that despite his fame as one of the founders of the BAU, Rossi was a kind and humble man that respected his team.  
“Alright alright enough you two. Miss thing go get ready, we’ll head out in about ten minutes.”  
Morgan shut down Rossi’s teasing which elicited a mischievous smile from Prentiss. She shook her head and dug through her bag for her gym clothes, ready to show off.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Alright Prentiss, that’s enough. Let’s cool off and then go get some lunch.” Morgan had to hold back a laugh as Prentiss continued playfully shoving his arm.  
“What? Can’t take anymore?” She flashed him a teasing smile.  
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that hot shot.”  
She backed away, staying turned to him with that pressing smile, but soon enough she found herself tumbling off the elevated mat in a clumsy mess. Just as she didn’t think things could get worse, she felt another body behind her.  
“Crap! I’m so sorry!”  
She began spewing apologies as she picked herself up and turned around to face whomever she’d just crashed into.  
“It’s fine! I should have looked where I was going, really. It’s okay.”  
Prentiss was stunned as bright blue eyes framed by golden hair looked at her with kindness, understanding, and guilt.  
“Uh…I really am sorry.” She said, offering a hand to the woman.  
The blonde took it and used it to aid herself to her feet.  
“Well since we can’t go on a date, I might as well introduce myself. Private First Class Jennifer Jareau.”  
Emily found herself shaking Jennifer’s hand,  
“Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss.”  
“FBI? Impressive. If you didn’t guess I’m with the Marines.”  
Emily chuckled,  
“Yeah, but hey, so is being a marine.”  
JJ offered a small smile,  
“Well I better go. See you around?”  
Emily smiled back,  
“Yeah. Nice meeting you!”  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
JJ and the rest of her fellow trainees walked into the cafeteria of the academy, and just as soon as she was heading for one of the lines, she saw the brunette she’d met just minutes ago across the way from her. She put on a playful smile and made her way over,  
“Are you stalking me?”  
Emily jumped and whipped around to face the familiar voice. When she saw JJ’s light smile, she laughed a little,  
“Private Jareau! Well it is a small training center. My partner and I didn’t feel like waiting any longer…although it seems he’s abandoned me.”  
JJ giggled,  
“Please, call me JJ-and for the other part, if you don’t mind I’ll keep you company?”  
Emily nodded,  
“I’d like that.”  
They grabbed their food, paid, and grabbed a small table for two in the back corner by one of the large windows that allowed great natural lighting into the café.  
“So, what part of the FBI do you work for?”  
Emily snapped out of her thoughts and met JJ’s eyes,  
“The Behavioral Analysis Unit-BAU for short.”  
JJ quirked an eyebrow,  
“Sorry, I’m not familiar…”  
Emily put up a hand to gesture for her to not worry,  
“Essentially, we analyze the behaviors of sever criminals-serial killers, usually-and build psychological profiles to help local law enforcement catch them. It’s a puzzle that makes it easy to predict their next move.”  
JJ’s eyebrows raised,  
“Wow. That’s really cool.”  
Emily smiled,  
“Yeah, it’s tricky but it’s never boring, and the payoff is great.”  
They went silent for a moment, each taking a bite of their lunch. Emily broke the silence,  
“So you and your colleagues are in good shape, are you all preparing for anything?”  
JJ nodded,  
“We deploy soon. We’re headed to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas in a few days, and after that we’ll each receive assignment somewhere in Afghanistan and maybe Iraq-although most marine troops are headed for Afghanistan.”  
Emily’s heart skipped a beat,  
“Oh wow, thank you-for your soon to be service, I mean.”  
JJ’s eyes filled with gratitude,  
“Thank you, it’s nice, you know? Having someone thank you? Of course it’s not expected but when someone does…”  
“…it makes it easier.” Emily finished for her. “I bet your family will miss you.”  
JJ’s heart ached and she released a little sigh,  
“Yeah, I don’t really have a family.”  
Emily flashed a look of confusion.  
“No one’s heard from my brother in a decade-he practically abandoned us. My parents were killed in an accident three years ago. Other than them…I’m on my own.”  
Emily instantly felt guilty,  
“JJ, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know-”  
JJ shook it off,  
“It’s fine. Everyone always expects someone like me to have a big loving family, lots of friends, a boyfriend even. But I don’t think any of that’s in the cards for me. Sure, it would be nice to have someone to talk to while I’m…gone but I’ve been on my own for long enough that I’ll be okay. Besides, I have my unit, and I’ve learned that despise the disgusting amount of testosterone that circulates, the common love of country really makes for great friends.”  
Emily softened her face,  
“I know we just met, but if you like…I could write to you? Try and help as much as I can?”  
Something in JJ told her to go for it-that this was something that was needed,  
“I’d like that.”  
They exchanged kind glances and proceeded to write out their contact information, trading one another and sharing one last friendly smile. Emily sat back a little, letting herself relax at this possibility of new friendship.  
“So, where are you originally from?”


	2. Chapter 2

March 18th, 2003, Fort Bliss, Texas

JJ dropped her bags at the side of the bed, taking in the high ceilings and tile floors of the barracks which seemed to give off the same feel as a college dorm.  
“Wow, they’re spoiling us before they send us out to the middle of nowhere.”  
JJ laughed at Molly’s comment and turned to face her friend,  
“Well, El Paso Texas is definitely the middle of nowhere, except now we have air conditioning and a kitchen.”  
JJ looked at the empty bunk bed and other empty single with a sigh,  
“Are we the only two women here?”  
Molly quirked an eyebrow,  
“There might be some in the other rooms but it wouldn’t surprise me if we were.”  
They stepped into the hallway and peered into each of the other women’s rooms, finding them empty.  
“Well, we certainly won’t be having to fight for spots in the bathroom.”  
JJ half-heartedly giggled at Molly’s remark, and they shook their heads and made their way to greet their fellow barrack-mates.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Despite having settled in quite well, JJ couldn’t sleep. She’d guess that at least two hours had passed since she’d crawled into bed. Something in her stomach was aching, and she couldn’t get her heartbeat to slow down no matter how much she tried to relax. She sighed and sat up, glancing across at Molly as she did. The knot in her stomach twisted again and something told her to go into her backpack. She picked it up and heaved it into her lap, and started digging through it. Her hand brushed over a folded piece of paper, and she instantly knew what it was. She pinched it between her fingers and pulled it out of the bag, instantly bringing it into her lap and unfolding it. Her eyes glanced over Emily’s contact information, and the knot in her stomach seemed to soften.  
‘You should write to her…at least tell her that you’re safe and settled in.’  
She went back to her bag for a notebook and a pen. She gently set her backpack back on the floor and flipped to the first clean page. She glanced at her watch for the date and started to write,  
“Dear Emily…”  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Emily sighed as she set her go-bag underneath the table in her condo entrance. The case they’d just worked in Maryland had been tough and she’d been distracted, so when she saw a letter from JJ in her pile of she was instantly reminded of the sweet blonde and how they were now states apart. She sat down at the bar in her kitchen with the letter, gently tore the envelope open, and read,  
“Dear Emily, March 19th, 2003  
Well…hi! Today we arrived here at Fort Bliss. The flight over was pretty quick and easy, and I’m lucky enough that my friend from Quantico, Molly, is here with me. We’re the only two women, but that isn’t unusual. How has work been? Lucky me gets to look forward to at least three weeks here and I’ll be spending the time staying in shape, getting to know my new colleagues, and trying not to die in the desert heat (that’s a joke, although El Paso is hot as hell). I’m sure it’s almost the end of the week by the time you’ve read this letter, so I hope you’ll enjoy your weekend.  
-JJ”  
Emily smiled and felt her chest lighten as she read the blonde’s words, happy to know that she was safe and seemed to be settling in well. She left the letter sitting on the bar and went to take a shower. After heating up some leftovers in the microwave, she grabbed the letter, a pad of paper, and a pen and sat down at her dining room table. She took a bite and started to write back,  
“Dear JJ, March 22nd, 2003  
I’m glad to hear you’re settling in well! Please stay hydrated and cool in the heat, you’re going to have to stay in the best condition you can for as long as possible. I understand the feeling of being a lone woman-on my team there’s only one other woman, Garcia, and she’s a technical analyst, so that makes me the only female profiler. I’m lucky though, the guys on our team are great, they’ll always have our backs and give us plenty of respect. It took three days for your letter to arrive to me, and I’m more than ready for this weekend. Enjoy your week, and stay safe. I might be away on a case when your next letter gets to me, but I’ll write back as soon as I can. I’m sure you’ll stay busy and forget about me anyways until this reaches you (I’m joking…partially).   
Hope to hear back from you soon,  
Emily”  
She signed her name neatly and stood to find an envelope and a stamp. Not wanting to forget about the letter, she promptly placed it in her purse so it was sticking out and she would remember to take it to the post office the next morning.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Emily settled into bed and as she began to relax, she let her mind wander so that it was no longer filled with the events of the week’s case. Oddly-or perhaps not-it drifted to JJ, and she wondered what the blonde was doing. Probably finishing dinner, or relaxing in her room or watching TV with her fellow soldiers. Emily remembered her deep blue eyes that appeared almost violet, and how when she’d looked at them she never wanted to look at anything else.   
‘Stop it. You barely know her, let her come to you. Don’t do this already.’ She scolded herself in her head, and willed for her mind to take her somewhere else.  
It didn’t.


	3. Chapter 3

Dear Emily, March 26th, 2003  
Thanks for wishing me well, everything has been going really well so far. The guys here are pretty great too, although something tells me they aren’t as civilized as your fellow teammates. A technical analyst? What exactly does that entail? What sort of cases have you been working lately? Sorry for the questions, curiosity has always been a weakness of mine. Molly seems to be developing a crush on one of the guys here…I thinking she’s delusional (don’t tell her I said-er, wrote-that). She’s a wonderful friend but man is she boy-crazy. I guess when people join the service as young as we did, you don’t really get a chance for a teenage/young adult love life. Also, I’m glad you’re joking about me forgetting about you-it’s something I’m sure I’ll be immensely excited for in the near future. Right now it gives me anxiety-the good kind-because well, that’s how new friendships start. Hope you’re doing well, and stay safe yourself. I’m sure the Virginia weather is beautiful right now, so know that I’m pretty jealous.  
-JJ  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Dear JJ, March 31st, 2003  
Good to know I’m not slipping from your mind too much. I’m not so sure about my guys being more civilized than yours, they can get pretty rowdy (especially when it comes to the age old ‘which serial killer had a bigger ego’ debate). God that must sound nerdy, but as long as we’re being honest, I’m very much a nerd. Also don’t worry, you may ask as many questions as your heart desires! Curiosity is a wonderful thing in my opinion. A technical analyst essentially finds information on everyone and everything involving these cases. It’s actually scary how much Garcia can find out, but it’s incredibly useful, we wouldn’t make it without her. The cases we generally work are serial murders with a violent or sexual-sometimes both-nature. We find the real creeps out there.   
Molly sounds spontaneous, but don’t let her get too crazy. I’m sure all the guys are doting on you, but if you’re anything like me-and something tells me you are-then work comes first. How old were you when you joined the service? I myself had to grow up pretty quickly, but for reasons that probably differ from your own. You’re absolutely right about the weather, spring is definitely here. I’m just enjoying it until the constant rain that comes with April hits us. Stay hydrated.  
Emily  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Dear Emily, April 5th, 2003  
I bet your guys didn’t turn the hot water off right before you got into the shower on April Fool’s Day. Molly and I are planning revenge. There’s nothing wrong with nerdy, I myself could spend days talking about European history. That is not at all what I was expecting a technical analyst to be-that’s seriously badass, I bet Garcia’s smart as a whip.   
Violent and sexual serial killers? You guys don’t mess around. Be careful, those guys are the real scum of the earth. I doubt any of these guys have the hots for me, but even if they do none of them are really my type, and you’re right-work comes first. I was nineteen when I joined the service. I was studying at Georgetown at the time, and I’d already completed my freshman year. Early in the spring semester of my sophomore year, my parents died. After that, well…I sort of started in this down spiral. When I wasn’t in class I was causing trouble and doing things I shouldn’t. I barely passed that semester, and when summer came I decided to drop out and join the Marines. What about you? Where’d you go to school? What made you want to join the FBI?  
I think the next time I write to you I’ll have my deployment information.  
-JJ  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Dear JJ, April 12th, 2003  
How wicked! I hope you and Molly get them what they deserve. History huh? I lived in Europe enough that I’ve learned more history than I know what to do with. You’re right about Garcia, she’s crazy smart, although no one has anything on our teammate Reid. He has an IQ of 187 and an eidetic memory, he’s so intelligent that it is legitimately terrifying. Again, I’m sorry about your parents, nineteen is too young to lose them. My father has never been around, and while my mother is…difficult, she’s there. I’m twenty-six, and while my whole life has been full of changes, I can always count on my mother to be, well, herself. She was an ambassador and we moved often, I’ve lived in multiple countries overseas. After I graduated high school I moved to DC and attended George Washington University. After I finished my four years there, I went to the FBI Academy for two years. I spent eight months at the FBI field office in Norfolk, Virginia and since then I’ve been with the BAU.  
My want to join the bureau started as an interest in law enforcement, and as I got older I learned about the BAU and psychological profiling, and I knew I wanted to make a life out of it. I love my job, it’s fulfilling and interesting and keeps me on my toes. The team is great and I know I want to stay with them for as long as my boss will let me. I hope knowing your deployment information will give you some comfort. Write back soon.  
Emily  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Dear Emily, April 16th, 2003  
In two weeks-April 28th, to be specific-I’ll be on a flight to Camp Rhino which is in the Registan Desert in southern Afghanistan. It is nice to finally know where this seemingly endless journey will take me, but it also gives me a new surge of anxiety. I am ready, I mean I’ve only been spending the last three years preparing for this.  
I have to admit I’m kind of jealous of the fact that you’ve lived overseas, I’ve lived in the DC area my whole life and I’ve always wanted to travel around western Europe. Psychology is really interesting, in fact I was considering receiving a minor in it. I definitely did not grow up wanting to be a soldier, in fact it seemed so out of reach to me until high school. Of course once I started college the idea slipped away again, but here I am.  
I’ll be thinking of you on that flight over. Stay safe.  
-JJ


	4. Chapter 4

April 29th, 2003, Quantico, Virginia

Emily’s heart thudded as she realized that JJ had most likely arrived in Afghanistan within the last few hours. Her hands tightened around the letter and she kept reading, trying to distract herself with JJ’s other comments and remarks. She jumped when someone cleared their throat,  
“What’s that?”  
Morgan’s question was sincere despite the glimmer of mischief in his deep brown eyes.  
“Uh, nothing really.” She shrugged and folded the letter, trying to keep her concern from showing through in her voice.  
“Come on, Prentiss-spill. I’m not going to pry, I just want to make sure you’re okay.”  
She let out a slow breath and started,  
“Okay, so when we were in training a few weeks ago at the shared gym, I met this girl who’s a marine and she was being deported in a few days but doesn’t really have any family or friends besides her coworkers so I offered to start writing letters. We’ve been writing to each other since then and well…by my calculations she’s just arrived in Afghanistan.”  
Morgan raised his eyebrows but remained silent. Prentiss avoided looking him in the eye as she folded the letter back up and shoved it into her top desk drawer.   
“You sure seem to care a lot for someone you barely know…” Morgan’s voice was steady but there was some sort of hinting there, and Prentiss needed to shut it down, she couldn’t afford for any of her team members to learn about a potential weakness.  
“Look, this isn’t going to distract me from doing my job, I’m just being a concerned friend. I-”  
“Morgan, Prentiss! Conference room in five!”  
She was cut off by Hotch’s voice booming through the bullpen. She folded the letter up and placed it back in her purse before rushing past Morgan into the round table room.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They get assigned a case in Tennessee and Prentiss is beyond relieved when she finally gets to settle down in her hotel room, reading over JJ’s letter for the umpteenth time. She searched the room for a notepad and pen before relaxing into her bed,  
“Dear JJ, April 29th, 2003  
All day I’ve been wondering if you’re safe and how your flight was and what’s going on, and I don’t think I can wait longer than a week to hear back from you, so why don’t you call me as soon as you get this letter, if at all possible? If not, I understand, it’s just that I’d rather hear from you sooner than later. We were just assigned a case in Tennessee today, and the heat is making me miss Virginia. I bet you’re missing Virginia too. It’s funny how you said that you’re jealous of me for having lived overseas, but now you’re the one that’s out there and I’m here. Please stay safe and get back to me as soon as you can. Take care.  
Emily  
(Cell #: 703-555-3231)  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
May 6th, 2003, Camp Rhino, Afghanistan

JJ was just about to settle into her cot for the night when a loud voice rang through the tent,  
“Mail call!” JJ was hopeful another letter had arrived from Emily, and joy overcame her as her name was called out and a letter was tossed her way. She anxiously ripped it open and read it. She found that a sense of comfort overcame her whenever she read Emily’s letters-she couldn’t explain it, but it was like a warmth settled into her heart when she received a letter. Her heart skipped a beat when she read that Emily wanted for her to call. She contemplated heading to a phone room right that minute-she wasn’t doing anything, so she figured why the hell not. She got up from her bed, tucked the letter into her pants pocket, and headed out of the large tent and strode across camp to the small building that held offices and phone rooms. She signed in to the phone log, and stepped into one of the small rooms. Once she heard a dial tone, she punched in the number Emily gave her and waited. After two rings, the voice she’d been yearning to hear sounded in her ear.  
“Hello, this is Emily Prentiss speaking.”  
“Emily? It’s me, JJ.”  
“JJ! I’m so glad you were able to call! How are you?”  
“I’m doing pretty well, actually. Everything is…well, as you think it would be over here. How are you? How’s Tennessee?”  
“We actually just flew back in this morning, so Hotch let us have the rest of the day off. It was pretty tough, but I’m okay.”  
“You caught the son of a bitch?”  
“Yeah, yeah we did.”  
There was a pause, and JJ didn’t quite know what to say next. She wanted to talk for ages, but she had no clue what about.  
‘Smooth.’  
“Well, I’m glad you were able to call. Talk again soon?”  
“Yeah, I think we have an eight and a half hour time difference, so I’m sure we can figure out times that work.”  
“Yeah, definitely. Have a good night JJ.”  
“And you have a good er, afternoon, Em.”  
Emily giggled a little,  
“Bye.”  
“Bye.” JJ squeaked and her voice went up a couple octaves.  
‘What the hell are you doing JJ?’ She asked herself. She never acted this way, and she figured it must just be nerves. She walked out and the second she got back out into the heat of the desert, she bumped into one of her comrades, Brian Evans.   
“What’s that smile for, Jareau? Were you talking to your boyfriend?” He said the last word with a sing-song voice and JJ couldn’t help but laugh,  
“Yeah right, you wish. Can’t a girl just be in a good mood?”  
“Whatever floats your boat, Jareau.”  
JJ smiled to herself and headed back to her bed, ready to settle in for the night. For whatever reason, just those few minutes of talking to Emily had made her entire day, and she couldn’t wait to talk to the brunette again.   
‘So much better than a letter.’


End file.
